Holidays at the Botanical Gardens

Capital Building at Botanic Gardens' Holiday Display

Every year the National Botanical Gardens put on a holiday display made of all natural/organic materials. In the main area they have scale models of important Washington DC landmarks including the Capital building, the White House and the Washington Monument all surrounded by poinsettias.  Then they set up a model train display in one of the wings of the building. This year’s theme was the “World’s Fair” which showcased the many of the architectural achievements from each of the fairs such as the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle.  My husband and I went to see the display last Sunday when it was snowing in DC. Actually one of the best times to go to some of the museums and exhibits is when it is snowing since locals don’t go out in the snow and the city seams almost deserted.  As little as an inch of snow seems to throw people around here into a panic. I'm from the north, so snow doesn't bother me, plus we have the metro here so it is even better no driving. 

I photographed some of the exhibit. (Botanic Garden Gallery)  It was a bit challenging due to the lighting. It was not exactly dim but the lights used through off metering. I ended up using an ISO around 800 to 1600 to compensate for the low light conditions but I was unable to really capture the trains how I would have liked. The nonmoving items came out ok. I also realized shooting at a high ISO isn’t that bad grain wise, especially since I don’t plan on blowing any of these photos up to poster size.  So they are perfect for the internet, basic photo sizes and card.   This showed me I don’t need to be afraid of high ISO values in the digital world. 

Botanic Gardens' Holiday Display